all that whereof thou mindest me; but, O my mother, the love of
the Sultan's daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, hath entered into
the innermost of my heart; and there can be no rest for me,
except I obtain her. Moreover, thou mindest me of somewhat I had
forgotten, and that a thing which emboldeneth me to seek of him
his daughter by thee. Thou sayst, O my mother, that I have no
gift to present to the Sultan, according to the wont of the folk,
whilst in fact I have by me a gift and an offering, the like
whereof methinketh no king ever possessed, no, nor aught to match
therewith; for [FN#338] thou must know, O my mother, that the
fruits, which I brought in the purses [FN#339] from the treasure
and which I deemed glass or crystal, are very jewels, methinketh
all the kings of the world may not compass the least of them, and
I, of my companying with the jewellers, know that they are
precious stones. Wherefore, an thou please, have the goodness to
rise and bring me such a China dish which we have by us, [FN#340]
that I may fill it with these jewels, and thou shalt take it as a
present to the Sultan. By this means I am assured that the thing
will be easy to thee, and do thou stand before the Sultan and
seek of him my desire; but, O my mother, an thou refuse to
further me with thine endeavour for the attainment of my wish of
the Lady Bedrulbudour, know that I am a dead man. Be not
concerned for the gift, for these be exceeding precious jewels,
and know, O my mother, that I have gone many a time to the market
of the jewellers and have seen them sell jewels, that had not an
hundredth part [FN#341] of the beauty of these of ours, at
exceeding high prices such as man's wit cannot conceive. When,
therefore, I saw this, I said [in myself], 'Verily, the jewels
that are with us are exceeding precious.' So now, O my mother,
arise, as I bade thee, and fetch me the China dish whereof I